Model, investor and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss is acquiring fashion publication i-D Magazine from Vice Media Group, which recently restructured its business after emerging from bankruptcy.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the sale, Kloss will lead the British magazine as CEO, with i-D top editor Alastair McKimm to expand his role and assume the role of chief creative officer and global editor-in-chief. The sale was handled through Kloss’s newly formed company, Bedford Media, where she serves as chairwoman.
Kloss “has a deep passion for technology and the intersection of fashion, media and culture and how we can create interconnectivity between the digital and physical worlds,” according to a statement from her rep.
In 2020, Kloss was part of an investor group that acquired W Magazine, the high-end fashion publication formerly owned by Condé Nast. The magazine has a deal with digital-media company Bustle Digital Group to operate as a partner “supporting technology, sales and operations” for the brand.
Vice Media had acquired i-D Magazine in 2012. The company entered into the deal to sell i-D to Kloss “as part of our ongoing strategy to streamline and focus VMG on our core business,” Vice Media Group co-CEOs co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala wrote in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
Kloss “has a deep passion for technology and the intersection of fashion, media and culture on a global basis, and we believe that the brand is in great hands to continue to build on its important position in the fashion world and to continue the growth trajectory we see for the business,” Dixon and Lokhandwala wrote.
Vice Media will continue to cover fashion, beauty and “personal style” across other properties, the co-CEOs said, including through Vice.com and Refinery29, which the company bought in 2019.
Last week, Vice Media announced another round of layoffs, after several Vice News shows failed to get renewed, and consolidated its five operating divisions down to two. Earlier this year, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and in July closed a $350 million sale to its lenders.
Kloss, in a post Tuesday on Instagram, offered a wink (and nod) about the deal, sharing the image of i-D Magazine’s spring 2013 issue for which she graced the cover:
From Variety US